Tarrant smiled, shifting his weight and looking off to the skies as he thought about the various islands.

“My personal favorite would be Atlantis and more particularly, the Shore. I took that territory as my own when I was merely a yearling,”

Tarrant chuckled, remembering how young he’d been when he’d stumbled on the territory, stale of its old herd’s scent and crying for his inhabitance.

“It was beautiful. I grew up here on Tinuvel, which isn’t particularly bad but the color scale is quite minimal. Atlantis is a jungle with gold sand beaches, rich blue waters, brightly colored flowers and strangely intriguing creatures. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before and nothing I’ve seen since. I’ve thought about returning there time and time again but my philosophy prohibits me from driving a herd from their home just because I want to covet something that my foolishness lost.”

Tarrant smiled and lowered his eyes from the bleak grey sky up above, just barely managing to be seen through the thick pines still clinging to their branches. His heart would always yearn for the Shore. Even when he’d finally returned and settled at the Ravine on Cimarron, taking the island for his kingdom and learning to love the rugged terrain he still thought of the Shore. Tinuvel had been his birthing island and his father had ruled the territories for many years but it would always be Atlantis which welcomed him like a mother. He shifted his weight and pulled his mind from Atlantis, remembering that Pulse wanted to hear of the other islands as well.

“The other two are Salem and Luthien, which I’ve only visited once or twice. Luthien is full of thick forests one minute and then wide plains of yellow-green grass the next. Salem is hot, a desert type place with sand as far as the eye can see. I had a friend who lived on the Hills in Salem, Reisis, his name was.”

Reisis was gone. When Tarrant had left with Ade after the fall of Cimarron, Reisis had still been here with his herd. Upon Tarrant’s return the stallion had left as well, but Tarrant still remembered the first time he’d shown the dark palomino to the top of the world. Oh, those two had had such great adventures together!

The jovial portion of the conversation slipped away as talk turned of other things and Pulse’s voice came quietly after his own. Tarrant blinked and looked at her as she turned away from the waters and came to his side. His green eyes held her quietly and his smile softened, a warm look holding her as if in a kind cradle.

“Pry all you wish, Pulse,”

Tarrant’s smile grew as he said it. He forgot for a moment that she had been so nervous to be near him and his son earlier, always used to being so close with his companions, and Tarrant reached out to delicately touch his muzzle to her shoulder in a comforting gesture. He pulled back and flicked his ears toward her, still wearing that same kind smile.

“I do miss Ade, that’s true, but she’s always taught me that our lives go on whether or not we’re together.”

He shifted slightly, his smile falling away and his green eyes becoming troubled.

“A stallion does not get to be my age without a few sad stories, but I’ve always tried to look past those and think on the good ones instead. For instance,”

Immediately Tarrant’s eyes lit up and the smile was back on his face, almost pulling in a teasing manner.

“Meeting and befriending you has been a good experience to push aside the bad! If Wonka and I hadn’t come to the Islands when we did now, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you.”